Disney’sThe Lion Kingis joining the billion dollar club. No, not thatLion King. The new one. Indeed, directorJon Favreau’s “live-action” remake of Disney’s critically acclaimed 1994 animated film is crossing $1 billion at the worldwide box office as of today, making it the sixth live-action Disney film ever to hit this milestone. It’s the second Disney Live Action film of 2019 to cross $1 billion after the live-action remake ofAladdin, and it now joinsBeauty and the Beast,Alice in Wonderland,Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, andPirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tidesas the only live-action Disney movies to cross $1 billion (note: I didn’t say this was a barometer of quality).
Clearly Disney’s new trend of mining its classic properties for live-action updates is working, and the success ofThe Lion King—despite mixed and some downright negative reviews—solidifies this as the way forward for the Mouse House as far as live-action films are concerned. So don’t expect the live-action trend to conclude after next year’sMulan, as updates of films likeSnow White,Peter Pan, andThe Little Mermaidareall already deep in development.
The 2019Lion King’s box office performance has now surpassed the lifetime gross of the 2D animated film, which hit $968.4 million worldwide. Adjusted for inflation the 1994Lion Kingis still top dog, but Disney’s new version is showing no signs of slowing down—it picked up a whopping $76 million in its second weekend of release.
As is the case with most blockbusters these days,The Lion King’s box office is being driven by a strong international performance. The film has now grossed $638.5 million internationally, versus a still-impressive $360.9 million domestic.
Speaking of, domesticallyThe Lion King2019 has already outperformed the domestic totals ofAlice in Wonderland2010,Aladdin2019, andThe Jungle Book2016.Beauty and the Beast2017 is currently Disney’s highest-performing live-action remake domestically with a total of $504 million, but that number doesn’t seem wholly out of reach forThe Lion King, especially with no other family films scheduled for release until mid-August.
So yeah,The Lion King2019 is huge. Like it or not, these Disney live-action remakes aren’t going anywhere.
